Major League Soccer is running out of lifelines.
Two seasons into its 10-year, $2.5 billion deal with Apple, the league’s big bet on streaming is looking more like a self-inflicted exile. The 2024 MLS Cup Final, featuring teams from the country’s two largest media markets, drew just 468,000 viewers on Fox and Fox Deportes—a stunning 47% drop from last year. And on Apple TV+? Reports suggest an almost unbelievable 65,000 people watched via MLS Season Pass.
That’s not the total audience, and we’d expect that many MLS fans who had access to Fox—whether through cable, satellite, or even an antenna—would opt to watch the game there instead of streaming it. But 65,000 is still a brutal number. If those figures hold, Apple—MLS’s primary media partner—delivered just a fraction of the game’s total viewership.
For 2025, MLS is finally trying to fix its biggest problem: no one can find the games. Apple’s walled-garden approach made the league practically invisible to casual fans, with no presence on linear TV and minimal advertising. Now, Apple is loosening the grip. Comcast and DirecTV will distribute MLS Season Pass through traditional cable and satellite program guides, allowing subscribers to find the games without digging through the Apple TV app.
But here’s the bigger issue: MLS has Lionel Messi.
This ain’t just any sports league. They have the greatest player to ever play the game. And yet, MLS and Apple have utterly failed to capitalize. If Messi in MLS can’t drive massive growth, what happens when he’s gone?
Apple’s Embarrassing Live Sports Strategy
The Apple-MLS deal was supposed to be revolutionary—a streaming-first blueprint for the future of sports media. Instead, it’s looking like one of the worst sports media deals ever signed. The numbers speak for themselves:
- MLS Cup got outdrawn by a second-tier USL Championship game.
- **More people watched the NWSL Final than MLS Cup—**by more than 2x.
- Apple TV+ only contributed an estimated 65,000 viewers to the MLS Cup’s audience.
Apple, for all its power, has done virtually nothing to push MLS forward. Their broader live sports strategy isn’t much better. They’ve repeatedly walked away from major opportunities, letting competitors swoop in instead:
- NFL Sunday Ticket? Passed. YouTube took it.
- NBA streaming package? Didn’t happen. Amazon got it.
- FIFA Club World Cup? Apple was in talks, but passed. DAZN picked it up instead.
We previously wrote about how Apple could flex its live sports muscle and acquire the FIFA Women’s World Cup, but nope… that went to Netflix.
Netflix’s Live Sports Bet Is Paying Off—Apple’s? Not So Much
Netflix isn’t chasing full-season rights like ESPN or Prime Video. Instead, they’ve mastered the prestige sports event model—picking high-impact, must-see moments that drive massive engagement. And so far? It’s working.
- NFL Christmas Day games? 65 million viewers, the most-streamed NFL games ever according to Nielsen.
- The Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight? 108 million viewers—setting a global streaming record.
- WWE Raw? 4.9 million viewers in its Netflix debut, the highest for the show in five years.
- Now the FIFA Women’s World Cup? Locked in for 2027 and 2031.
Netflix has quietly positioned itself as a live TV powerhouse, executing a strategy that makes every event feel like must-watch television. They aren’t throwing money at bloated, season-long sports deals—they’re stacking marquee events that guarantee massive viewership.
Meanwhile, Apple’s MLS deal—its only major full-season rights package—has been a disaster. Viewership is invisible. The product is hidden behind a paywall. And now, Apple is watching as Netflix, a company that didn’t even focus on live sports until last year, is making bigger moves and seeing bigger wins.
So where does that leave MLS? Tied to a platform that isn’t winning. Apple hasn’t lost just one or two sports rights battles—it’s showing zero urgency in growing its sports portfolio at all. MLS was supposed to be a centerpiece, but if Apple won’t fight for top-tier events like the Women’s World Cup, why should MLS believe they’ll still care in five years?
Netflix is riding a sports-fueled high, while Apple is left scrambling to put MLS back on traditional TV. If that’s not a wake-up call for the league, what is?
Can Comcast and DirecTV Save This?
Apple’s response to the mess? Get MLS back onto traditional pay TV.
That’s what the Comcast and DirecTV deals are about—trying to reverse course without admitting failure. MLS games will now show up in pay TV program guides, giving casual viewers a chance to find them without needing to open Apple TV.
MLS is also experimenting with standalone match windows, trying to build appointment viewing after two years of forcing every game into the same forgettable 7:30 p.m. slot. This could help create must-watch matchups, similar to how the NFL and NBA structure their national broadcasts.
But let’s be clear: MLS and Apple are in damage control mode.
Messi Won’t Save This Forever
Here’s the reality: Messi is MLS’s last, best shot at mainstream relevance.
If Apple and MLS can’t make the league matter while he’s still here, then this whole thing is doomed the second he retires.
Apple’s broader strategy looks shaky, MLS is struggling for relevance, and the biggest player in the sport is playing in front of empty seats. The next two years are do-or-die. Either they figure this out, or the Apple-MLS deal becomes one of the most spectacular failures in sports media history.
Time is running out. Fix it.
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